Learn Business Fundamentals from the Top-Ranked Rice School of Business

Advance Your Career with Rice's Business Fundamentals Courses

Build a solid foundation in Business Accounting, Finance, and Data Analysis so you can confidently navigate the business environment, regardless of industry.

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DESCRIPTION

3-Course Business Finance and Data Analysis Fundamentals Specialization

The 3-course specialization in Business Accounting, Finance, and Data Analysis is designed to equip aspiring business leaders with fundamental quantitative skills and knowledge to succeed in business. These courses include lectures, practice opportunities, and video walk-throughs to help build confidence in these areas. Taught by experienced professors, our specialization is a comprehensive resource to help you prepare for and accelerate your business career.

Who should attend:

Individuals who are considering pursuing an MBA program and want to improve their quantitative skills before they enroll.
Small business owners who want to better manage their finances and understand their financial statements.
Individuals who want to improve their personal financial management skills, such as budgeting and investing.
Non-finance professionals who want to enhance their understanding of financial concepts and terminology to communicate more effectively with finance teams or make better business decisions.
Students in other disciplines, such as engineering or science, who may need to understand financial and accounting principles in their future careers.
Anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the financial world and how it impacts our daily lives.

You will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the major conceptual levers of financial decision-making and how they relate to other areas of business
Describe the basic differences and similarities of the four financial statements
Develop a basic facility for using spreadsheets to solve quantitative business problems
Apply top-level math and statistics concepts that will be used throughout the MBA curriculum at any school.

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MEET YOUR RICE PROFESSORS

Brian Rountree

Brian Rountree is a tenured associate professor of accounting at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business, where he joined in 2003 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. He has received multiple teaching awards and has taught accounting courses across all MBA programs at Rice Business. His research interests include external forces' influence on financial reporting choices and characteristics of firms. Rountree has published in leading academic journals, including The Accounting Review, and has presented his research at over 30 international institutions. He is also an active member of the American Accounting Association and consults on accounting-related issues.

James Weston

James P. Weston is the tenured Harmon Wittington Professor of Finance at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. He teaches courses in corporate finance and financial institutions across all programs at Rice Business. He has received multiple teaching awards, including the alumni faculty award. Weston’s research focuses on corporate finance and has been published in top academic finance journals. He is a member of several professional associations, including the American Finance Association and the Financial Management Association. Weston also has experience in executive education seminars, consulting and providing expert witness testimony.